In the manufacture of a magnetic-recording disk, a glide-height test may be performed using a glide-head after removing foreign substances from the recording surface of the magnetic-recording disk by using a burnish-head. In removing foreign substances, a burnish-head including a slider formed of a mixture of alumina, Al2O3, and titanium carbide, TiC, is used. A suspension upon which the burnish-head is mounted is swept over the recording surface of the magnetic-recording disk. The sweeping action of a rotary actuator, or arm of a head loader of a spinstand, upon which the suspension is mounted in combination with the burnishing action of the burnish-head remove undesired small asperities and dust from the recording surface of the magnetic-recording disk. The burnish-head is structured to have approximately the same shape and size as the shape and size of a magnetic-recording head used in a functional hard-disk drive (HDD). An air-bearing surface (ABS) of the slider is designed with a special shape to conveniently remove asperities and similar undesirable artifacts from the recording surface of the magnetic-recording disk. The glide-head, which is used in the glide-height test, also includes a slider formed of a mixture of alumina, Al2O3, and titanium carbide, TiC. A suspension upon which the glide-head is mounted includes a piezoelectric element and lead wires. When the glide-head is flown over the recording surface of the magnetic-recording disk, if the slider of the glide-head should encounter a foreign substance, for example, such as dust or an abnormal asperity, an impulse wave is transmitted to the piezoelectric element. When the impulse wave is transmitted, a voltage is generated in the piezoelectric element, and the voltage is extracted through a lead wire and monitored.
Thus, as described above and is known in the art, the smoothness and cleanliness of the recording surface of a magnetic-recording disk may be inspected. Manufacturing and development engineers skilled in the art of magnetic-recording-disk manufacture are engaged in the development of methods and apparatuses that increase the yields in and facilitate the manufacture of clean and smooth magnetic-recording disks.